The Legacy of Paneau: Conversion
by Sile Crowley
Summary: Sequel to the Legacy of Paneau. Jedi Knight Elena-May Lyran wrestles with her decision as she gets caught up in a new struggle with an old enemy that threatens to damage Paneau's fragile new framework. Occurs 0.5 APC.
1. Chapter 1

Am I going to make it in time? This rickety old ship wasn't going nearly fast enough, but it refused to go any faster.

It was a weird feeling, not knowing what you were racing to intercept. All I knew was that someone on Paneau was about to be blindsighted by an attack aimed at something, or someone, valuable.

With one hand on my lightsaber's hilt that hung from my belt, I tapped my foot as I sat on the edge of my seat, scanning the viewport nervously. The nav computer was about to pull the ship out of hyperspace, depositing me onto Paneau's doorstep after a long, anxious trip from Ambria. I had been investigating a string of cargo heists over the busy planet, but I had to leave quickly. An informant I had befriended there told me that the pirates I had been hunting to arrest for the heists had left for Paneau abruptly. They were reportedly after a valuable item that had been rumored to have been taken there, though according to the informant, no one seemed to know what it was. If the pirates were going to completely drop their operation on Ambria and concentrate on Paneau alone, I wasn't the only one who was going to have my hands full. I'd have to enlist help from the one person I both longed and dreaded to see: Paneau's Head of Security, Koril Rys'tihn.

It had been nearly two weeks since I had left him, refusing his marriage proposal before taking the Ambria assignment. It was the hardest thing I had done in my life, but I had convinced myself well that I had done the right thing. We were destined for nothing but problems, I reasoned, especially since our careers wouldn't allow us to be together much, if at all. He had been appointed Head of Security over a month ago, a huge responsibility under the new teenage king, Verojec Banarecc, and he needed to focus on protecting his vulnerable planet, not on me, or our son...

I rubbed my stomach anxiously. The little life inside me was still quite small, but I could feel his life force grow stronger each day. It both excited and terrified me to think of myself raising a child... Would I be a good mom? Should I return to Hoth to have the child with my parents at my side? When should I tell Koril? He had a right to know, but would his family's tradition of turning the first child of a new generation into a secret, nonexistent person apply to our child? How could I knowingly give up someone I already loved so much and condemn him to a lonely, solitary life as a Rys'tihn Ghost Heir? How had his family done that for centuries? It seemed so cold and heartless to arbitrarily designate a child created by two people in love to such a dark, disconnected existence. Though I had gotten to know Deilia Rys'tihn, Koril's twin sister and younger Ghost Heir, fairly well and worked with her enough to know she was a good, decent person, I still wouldn't wish that life on anyone. Wasn't there some other, less drastic way to secure royal heirs as the centuries wore on?

With a brief beep from the nav computer, my ship lurched, forcing me forward as it slowed out of hyperspace. My fingers flew over the controls as I navigated into a descent through Paneau's atmosphere. How many, many times I had made the same trip and marveled at the planet's beauty and serenity from above...

Another quick beep and the comm panel lit up. The face of a young, uniformed man filled the screen.

"Dalon Main Spaceport," he said cordially. "Transmit identification, please."

I nodded and did so, doing my best to suppress my surprise at the formality. They had really reined in the security forces already, and they needed to. I just hadn't expected such a quick turnaround.

The officer read a screen off to his side where I couldn't see, but when he looked back, he smiled warmly.

"Identification accepted. Welcome back to Paneau, Miss Lyran. I'm Captain Aurin Jax. Shall I inform King Verojec of your arrival?"

"No, thank you," I answered swiftly, righting the ship as it broke through into the highest clouds over the main continent. The sky's dazzling blue at midday still made me sigh at the sight, and a few bright red birds flying just below me distracted me briefly from the task at hand. "I have other business to tend to."

"Very well, m'lady. Please let us know if we can assist you in any way. The Royal Navy is at your service, as always."

_M'lady?_

"Thank you, Captain, but I hope I won't be needing --"

A sudden large explosion rocked my ship, knocking me forward onto the controls. Immediately I glanced at the sensor readout and was surprised to see three small fighters close behind me. Where had _they_ come from?

Another quick glance at the console as I tugged restraints over my shoulders, and I realized my comm had been knocked out. My shields had been up when I entered the atmosphere, but that first blow felt as though nothing had lessened its impact. Had the shields been drained and I hadn't noticed? I couldn't see my pursuers, and I fought to maintain control of the craft as another explosion tore through the ship, breaching the hull in the back. I heard the engines quiet as they lost power, and I could no longer steer. Everything was happening so fast -- quickly losing altitude, a lush, green forest filled the viewport, the ship skimmed the tall trees, then nosedived violently into the dense underbrush, coming to a sudden, vertical stop at the forest floor.

Still strapped to my seat, I felt myself falling in and out of consciousness. The cockpit remained dark, but I could see light filtering in from the hole in the back end, lighting up the console. Something wet dripped off the front of my face, and just as I moved to wipe it away, the viewport in front of me shattered suddenly and fell in pieces. I saw silhouettes of several people gathering outside the ship, but my throbbing head forced me to close my eyes, and feeling lightheaded, I finally gave into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

A blinding pain registered suddenly at my temple, and opening my eyes, I found myself lying on my side on a dark, dirty floor. A pair of worn boots stepped around my head and joined another pair to the sound of a hearty chuckle. My eyes refused to focus, but as I brought my hands over to prop myself up, I found them shackled together.

"Who are you," I demanded as strongly as I could, "and where have you taken me?" With the binders tight around my wrists, I struggled to sit up, but finally upright, I could see I was in a small room, surrounded by five strangers.

"What? You don't remember us? That hurts our feelings," said one gruff older man.

"Yeah," laughed another on the opposite side, "how could you forget our memorable faces!"

"Maybe we should put our suits back on, that'd jog your memory," sneered a slight, scarred Weequay.

"We look a little different without our helmets and blasters, don't we?" mused another. Judging by the others' orientation and body language toward him, he seemed to be the leader of the group. He was a tall, well-built human with graying brown, unkempt hair, and he looked exceptionally proud to have me in his custody.

Reaching out with the Force, I sensed my surroundings. I felt the subtle hum of a ship's engine underneath me, the bulk and vastness of a large ship, and beyond the ship, emptiness. We were no longer on Paneau, but in space.

I looked between the five again, blinking to force my eyes into focus. I didn't recognize a single one of them, but the only helmeted and armed enemies I had faced in the past were...

"Huxnel," I growled. I had encountered them before, the "Imperial" invaders who had launched an assault on Paneau just after I had arrived as a student ambassador from the Jedi Academy almost seven years ago. The attack devastated the capital city of Dalon and began a long recovery period for the rest of the major cities affected. Barely fourteen at the time, I found myself stuck on Paneau, tangled up in a foreign conflict as I discovered minute by minute my own survival instincts and just how much I had learned at the Academy. I had to put almost every skill to the test...to keep from being killed.

"Oh good! The Jedi brat _does_ remember us!" laughed the scarred Weequay. I had to stifle a laugh.

"You wannabes were bested by two Jedi students six years ago. Back for another defeat?"

The leader spoke up before his men retaliated. "We're only after one thing this time, and you're going to help us. Surely you know of the legendary Hoth Diamond..."

I felt my stomach sink. Not only did I know of it, I knew its location and who owned it. Koril's father had sequestered it at their family's private retreat, and I had even seen it, touched it... As desperately as I tried to keep my reaction from surfacing, the leader had read it.

"You've seen it, haven't you," he said with a grin, his interest piqued. "And you know where it is, too. Good. I knew you'd be valuable to us."

Narrowing my eyes, I struggled to control my anger. "What makes you think I'll stick around, much less help you?"

The leader stepped around the room calmly, clasping his hands behind his back. "We've changed in six years, you see. We've grown up; we're patient now. And I think you'll find that we can be _very_ persuasive."

"You really think the five of you can hold onto a Jedi Knight right now, when the whole lot of you couldn't keep tabs on a fourteen-year-old student?"

At that, the leader stopped and turned to me, grinning again.

"You've grown up, too, Miss Jedi. You wouldn't want us to use stun blasters on you, now, would you?"

I had heard enough. They were planning to attack the man I still cared deeply for, and they were going to threaten me with certain death for my child if I didn't cooperate. They had to be stopped...

With my hands bound in front of me, I raised them slightly as I closed my eyes and concentrated, reaching out with the Force. Each of the five had a stun blaster holstered at their sides. I reached around each blaster's power cells, and with a quick burst of energy...

Simultaneously, five blasters ruptured, splintering their casing and spewing their contents. While the men were distracted, I got to my feet quickly and powerfully pinned them all against the wall with the Force, holding them there, but not completely immobilizing them. With the sudden movement, I wavered slightly, but I forced every sense on edge, sharpening my mind, prepared for their retaliation. When no one moved, I decided I had their attention.

"You wouldn't _really_ want me to use the Force on you, would you?" I challenged the leader with an intense glare. He matched my gaze but said nothing in reply.

"Release me," I demanded.

The leader arched an eyebrow. "Seems you're fully capable of escaping on your own. You don't need our help."

The Weequay on the end began to resist, trying to push himself off the wall, requiring more of my attention. I glanced at him briefly to recalculate my energy distribution, but by the time I looked back at the leader, I had no time to react. When I had looked away, he had quickly drawn a concealed blaster and fired, landing a fiery bolt just below my left collar bone, and I could hardly breathe. I lost my grip on the five and stumbled backward, landing with my back against the wall behind me. Struggling to draw a breath into my scorched lungs, I could only watch as the five surrounded me. I was quickly losing strength, hardly able to gasp, much less defend myself. I painfully fell to my knees, watching as color drained from my sight. The leader stepped up to me, watching with an icy glare as I sank further to the floor.

"Next time," he said darkly, "I'll aim lower." I felt something hard strike my face, then total darkness engulfed me.


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up again was just as painful, though I fully expected to feel half dead. To my surprise, I could breathe fairly well without too much burning, but how?

Again on my side, I moved my arms up to support myself and caught a whiff of a familiar smell. So that's how I was still alive. I could feel the thin, tight film of repairing skin on my shoulder stretching as I moved. They had started at least one bacta treatment on me; how nice. Apparently I was still a part of their plan.

Not anymore. They had left me alone, and that was their last mistake.

Even though my wrists were still bound, I stood carefully and stepped over to the door, reaching out with the Force to probe the hallway outside. I couldn't sense anyone nearby, but there might be some kind of security device around that I couldn't see in the Force. There weren't any cameras in my room, though, so maybe their security was lax. Surely it wasn't every day that these lowlifes took prisoners...just honest people's goods.

If only I had my lightsaber. I'd feel much better about my chances, my ability to defend myself if I had it, but along with anything else useful, they had taken it off me while I was unconscious. Who knows what they did with it. I'd have to get it back somehow, but right now, escaping was my first priority.

The door was magnetically locked; easy enough to overcome. I just had to find its energy source along the frame, disengage the circuit...

With a subtle _click_, the door popped open slightly. I still couldn't sense anyone around, so I pulled apart the binders on my wrists and carefully pried the door open just wide enough for me to slip through. Another sweep of the halls, still empty...

I had to find my way to the hangar. A ship this big had to have smaller craft for transport planetside, and at least a dozen of the fighters that had attacked me could fit inside this huge cruiser. But how to get there?

I could feel the vibration of the ship's engines directly underneath me, so I needed to go forward, and I could sense a large empty space that might be a hangar not too far to my left. It was almost unsettling how vacant this monstrous ship was, but I started out into the hallways, masking the clicking sound my boots made on the durasteel floor.

As I made my way through the ship, I felt one presence, one person who was following me, though I never saw anyone. It was almost familiar, someone I had met before. Was it one of the five who had detained me earlier? It seemed close enough to have cornered me at one point, but I ducked into an adjacent hallway and continued on to the hangar.

I thought I was in the clear, but just as I turned a corner, I met the barrel of a blaster, held in my face by a mysterious man I had met once before in the same manner. Motionless, I stared past the blaster at Horatio Sheridan. He was a well-built man with short brown hair, but it was his intense green eyes that aged him, as if he had suffered through a great deal in a short amount of time. His face was expressionless, though, and I couldn't read his feelings. Was he blocking me? Was that how he was able to catch me off guard?

"Keep quiet," he demanded abruptly. "This way."

Wary, but without much choice, I cautiously obeyed. With his blaster still at my back, he led me through the hallway maze, checking the corridors as we went. At first, I was fairly certain I was being marched off to be incarcerated someplace more secure, but after a few minutes of darting about the hallways, I realized that he was just as interested in remaining unnoticed as I. Was this his idea of a rescue?

Just as quickly as I had sensed Horatio before, another presence was rapidly approaching us from an adjacent hallway. But before I could even decide which direction to retreat, Horatio grabbed me and nearly flung me into a darkened alcove in the hall, pressing his hand firmly over my mouth as he, too, squeezed himself into the shadows. Infuriated as I was, I concentrated on enhancing the darkness to mask our presence there, and a half-drunk Rodian continued on quietly down the hall, having noticed nothing.

Horatio didn't see my scathing glare as he carefully stepped back out into the light, monitoring the Rodian's progress and eventual disappearance. Still, I made my thoughts known by another route.

"Touch me again, and I will crush your fingers one by one."

He whipped his head back around to me and sported an equally offended expression. "Do you want to get out of here or not? I said keep quiet."

But I wasn't about to. As we continued to make our way down the corridors, I pressed him further.

"Why are you helping me?"

He hardly flinched this time, too busy peering around a corner. "You need a reason for me to help you escape from these deranged pirates?"

"I need to know how much I can trust you with."

At that, though, he looked at me with a strange mix of surprise and amusement. "Trust issues. Interesting." I scoffed.

"Says the man who's held a blaster in my face both times we've met."

"I was protecting valuable property, I had reason to be suspicious." The hallways were getting wider; we must be getting close to a hangar.

"And I don't when you, of all people, show up to break me out?"

Horatio's expression darkened suddenly. "You know nothing about me."

"Exactly," I answered as we encountered a large door resembling an airlock, "which is why I need to know what your motivations are, why you would risk _your_ neck for someone _you_ don't know. So what is it? Credits? Fame? Leaving a Jedi in your debt?"

Without even looking at me, Horatio punched in a code at the door's keypad and the massive panels swept open, revealing the hangar I had sensed earlier. A group of mechanics were huddled around a banged up fighter at the other end, and apparently out of earshot of the door we had just opened, they continued their work without pause. The blaster barrel in my back directed me forward again until I finally stood in front of a small hauler with its rear ramp already lowered. A small abstract stone sculpture sat just inside its main hold, and as Horatio continued to usher me inside, I started to realize that the strange stone looked vaguely familiar...

Though he quickly raised the ramp and sat at the hauler's controls, Horatio simply looked out the main viewport intently, watching the activity in the hangar outside as he holstered his blaster. "We have to wait for the other fighters to leave," he said quietly, "so we can sneak out with them." Feeling like a prisoner locked in a cell again, I decided to force conversation.

"You didn't answer my question."

He remained quiet, however, for several moments before he finally sat back in his seat and sighed. "A Jedi Master helped my sister a few months back on Ambria. I never got the chance to thank him, much less repay him, so I decided I'd do what I could to help his friends."

A wave of realization suddenly hit me. "So that's why I recognized your name. Your sister was that bounty hunter Master Noor was nearly killed for helping." If it hadn't been for Noor's persistent friend, Master Strone Lithess, Noor wouldn't have been found in his flooded cell in time to save him from drowning. Ambrian security had locked him up for healing Recero Sheridan and delivering her son after their transport was shot down over the planet's surface.

"Thanks to him, Recero and her son survived." Horatio looked over his shoulder with a slightly challenging expression on his face. "You think he shouldn't have helped them?"

I could see where this conversation was going.

"Given the circumstances," I answered cautiously, "I would've been more careful. Master Noor gave himself too willingly for almost anyone, people who didn't--"

"Deserve his help," Horatio interjected, "just because of their occupation?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I didn't say that; I was going to say --"

"But you didn't say you'd help regardless."

Now I was getting mad. "What does it matter what I think? Are you a bounty hunter, too?"

Horatio swiveled in his chair to face me properly. "Would you still accept my help if I were?" Was he really going to avoid answering every single one of my questions? I can play that game, too.

"Depends on the situation."

At that, Horatio grinned and swung back to the viewport, returning his attention to the hangar outside. "You mean, if the situation's good enough that you could still escape without my help if I turned on you."

I opened my mouth to argue...but I realized I couldn't.

He glanced back at me, still grinning. "Don't worry. There aren't any bounties on you that I know of."

Silenced for the moment, I sat in the seat beside him, contemplating our exchange.

"How did you find me?"

Horatio glanced at me sideways, seeming genuinely surprised. "What?"

"How did you know where I was? I'm sure they weren't exactly broadcasting who they had in their custody."

As if nervous, Horatio diverted his gaze, looking anywhere but at me. "Actually, it was just a coincidence. I was retrieving things they had stolen from me, and I overheard some of them talking about a Jedi prisoner."

I could see right through him. "A prisoner who just so happened to be me, and who you just so happened to come across in that corridor?"

He finally looked at me with a twinge of regret in his eyes, as though he disliked withholding more from me. I though it odd, since I had only met him twice, both times under trying circumstances. I could sense that I wasn't getting the complete truth, but something about his expression forced me to believe his sincerity.

"You've been gone for four days."


	4. Chapter 4

Now that, I didn't believe. I didn't feel fatigued in the slightest, and aside from a lingering headache after my ship crashed and a broad, dull pain in my shoulder, I felt fine, normal. There was no way I had been out for four days.

"You think you could be shot down in the middle of a transmission with the Paneau Royal Navy, and nobody would notice?"

I stared. Near as I could tell, he _was_ telling the truth about that. When he said nothing more, I tried to clear things up. "So you were sent to find me."

Horatio half shrugged, half shook his head. "Like I said, I just happened to be here."

I glanced behind us at the stone sculpture in the back. "'Retrieving things they had stolen from you'?"

His expression darkened as he watched out the viewport. "Yeah, and once again, it was personal."

"You've dealt with them before?"

After a long hesitation, he nodded, his voice quieted. "Jaala wanted more than anything to be called a Rys'tihn again. Besides her two boys, she focused all her attention on recovering that lost ancestor. She was missing one vital piece of information, though, that she thought she could only find by accessing a computer in the family's retreat home. It required a special transmitting device to unlock, one she knew her brother had. She had heard of the Huxnel and their reputation for...acquiring anything they were paid enough to."

He looked to the floor and became even quieter still. "For some reason, they shifted their sights from what she had hired them for to something else... A month later, she was killed." Again his expression darkened, though the pain was more evident in his eyes. "Though I can't prove it, I know they were behind it. Less than three years after her death, they attacked Paneau. You remember that, I'm sure."

It took me a moment to process it all. Something as innocent as a woman determined to be recognized by her family again was indirectly responsible for such destruction affecting the entire planet? How had everything gone so terribly wrong? I never did find out why the Huxnel had invaded Paneau in the first place; it appeared as though they had returned to finish what they'd started. Now I was even more determined to stop them.

"A week ago they had the nerve to steal the one thing that reminded me of Jaala, so I followed them here...and now I've got it back."

It must have been the way in which he said it. As I looked at Horatio, I suddenly realized his motivation. Though we had only known each other for an hour at the most, somehow I could feel his emotions, and a wave of sympathy flowed through me. I had felt the exact same way a few months ago, clutching a holo of Koril for hours after being told he had been killed.

"You were in love with her," I said needlessly aloud. He didn't have to, but he nodded. There was a long silence, but it wasn't awkward. We both had experienced the same thing, and the mutual, unspoken understanding between us was strangely sad but comforting at the same time. The only difference was he had carried his loss for almost 9 years; I suffered merely three days, most of which I spent in painful denial, distracting myself as much as possible.

How stupid was I. Horatio and I had nowhere near the same experience. Koril's death never really sunk in; I simply felt...empty, and numb. I hadn't had enough time to fully comprehend what his death meant, but seeing him alive in that dark Jedi Temple room forced me to realize that I had been in such terrible pain without him, so deep in love that nothing could have comforted me. I hadn't allowed myself to feel it before then, for whatever reason, but holding his hand again that day...

And I had destroyed everything...every kiss, every touch, every word since then by leaving him. How thankless, how undeserving I was of the fortune I had been awarded. Beside me sat a man who somehow found solace in a humble piece of artwork, an inanimate, silent reminder of someone he had loved, yet I was granted the second chance Horatio could only dream of, and I had refused it.

The guilt was overwhelming. What had I done? I had screwed up the one thing that was good in my life. I had so deeply wounded Koril for such stupid, selfish reasons... Should I dare to even attempt to apologize? Would he even look at me? How would I react if the same had been done to me?

He hadn't tried to contact me at all since I had left two weeks ago. Granted, I was almost purposely out of reach, and I hadn't tried to contact him, either. I had even avoided talking to my best friend, Mand Natiyr, afraid of what she'd say to me. Had I taken the Ambria mission to run away from everything, from everyone?

Beside me, Horatio sat straight up in his chair, and it took me a moment to remember why we were sitting here in the first place. I followed his line of sight and saw what had caught his attention. A flurry of activity swirled about the hangar as dozens of armed men surrounded our small freighter. Before I could say anything, Horatio immediately began to power up the engines. At least we were thinking on the same page.

"They want you alive, right?" he asked, glancing at me as the ship lifted from the hangar floor. I nodded, but after I thought for a second...

"Wait, how did you know? I never told you that."

"Strap in," he demanded first. I complied and watched a handful of fighters power up to the left and right of us as we punched through the hangar's magnetic shield and broke into space. Horatio threw the engines into full speed, checking the sensor readings as he glanced at me. "Either you make it a habit of smelling like bacta, or they treated you. Judging by the blaster burn on your shirt, I'd say it's the latter."

"Are you as good a pilot as you are observant?"

"They won't give us any trouble," he replied as he queued up the comm, "they'll just follow us." The ship's sensor readout didn't show any of the fighters behind us, but I could sense them keeping their distance. Though I wasn't completely convinced, I could at least trust the confidence in his voice.

"Commander Tidu, this is Horatio Sheridan. We're returning home as planned."

A muffled, familiar-sounding voice filled the cabin. "Understood. You have our gratitude. Tidu out." That wasn't 'Commander Tidu'... That was Joshua Redgrave, Vianne Banarecc's husband. He was a pilot for the New Republic, though he was mostly stationed in the Outer Rim near Paneau's system. _What_ was going on?

Horatio expected my question and responded before I had even opened my mouth. "As I said before, you've been missing for four days. There were a lot of people worried about you."

"And they sent you to rescue me."

He suddenly looked tired. "I thought we've been through this already."

I was getting a little irritated. "Yes, I got that part, you 'just happened to be there'. Why haven't you been upfront with me? I want to know who you've been working with."

I thought for a moment that he wasn't going to answer me as he returned his attention to the controls, but he sighed. "Three squadrons will be waiting for us once we return to Paneau's system. One will escort us, and the other two will fight off anyone who follows us." That was a little better, but he still really hadn't answered my questions. However, there were more pressing issues at hand.

"We're going back to Paneau?"

"_I_ am." He glanced at me. "You're going to Salastryn. You'll meet your friends Mand Natiyr and Kihara Marelleck there."

I shook my head. "No, take me to Paneau. I know what the Huxnel are after. I need to talk to...the right people."

Though it had only been a few minutes since we had left the Huxnel cruiser, I could see the system ahead, and just as Horatio had said, three squadrons were sitting in front of us. One was composed of entirely deep violet-painted craft, immediately identifying it as Paneau Royal Navy. The other beside it had dark gray fighters, and judging by their rough body styles, they belonged to Salastryn. The third group, closest to us, was a mix of the two. As we approached Paneau's nearly identical neighbor from its shadowed back side, I could tell Horatio had no intention of listening to me.

"Horatio, take me to Paneau now," I demanded.

"Sorry, not your call to make." It was infuriating how easily he was dismissing me.

"Really? Then whose is it?"

With our escort on either side of us, I watched as the other two turned course simultaneously, both speeding off toward Paneau in their tightknit formations. I could sense that the fighters that had followed us from the Huxnel cruiser were still outside the system, so what were our squadrons heading to Paneau for?

Either finally obeying me or concerned by a change in plans, Horatio suddenly pulled our ship out from the squadron's escort, changing our course to Paneau, as well. I was only satisfied for a brief moment because as soon as we rounded on Paneau's largest moon and approached the planet itself, I felt my breath catch in my chest. A _Victory_-class Star Destroyer hovered above the planet, poised to attack. It released a haze of fighters just as our two squadrons met it, and at the same time, Horatio and I both realized what was happening.

"They're already here," I said needlessly aloud.


	5. Chapter 5

"We are _not_ dogfighting in this thing," Horatio said as he pulled the bulky hauler around. I didn't argue. "We're going back to Salastryn." Frustrated, he jabbed at the comm, altering its reception frequency several times. "This is one of their freighters; why aren't we hearing any of their chatter?"

"I don't know," I answered quickly, "but I bet I know their next move." As we rounded on Salastryn, the fighters that had followed us from the Huxnel cruiser were almost on top of us. Horatio stayed on course, though he kept a nervous eye watching out the viewport. Our escort finally caught up with us, and it didn't take long for a few of them to break off and engage the Huxnel fighters. I didn't realize it, but as we descended into Salastryn's atmosphere, I was holding my breath. Neither side exchanged fire, but the fighters swirling around in front of us made me extremely nervous. One wrong move, one aggressive turn...

The presence of the Paneau and Salastryn fighters seemed to finally get the point across, and the Huxnel craft disengaged their pursuit to remain in space. Even though I knew they wanted me alive, their pursuit had still made me anxious. Was anyone I know flying alongside us in the mixed squadron?

Horatio guided the hauler through its descent, and once we emerged from the cloudcover, soft rain streamed down the viewport and pattered on the hull. Though it was difficult, I could still see Salastryn's lush, wooded landscape below, extremely similar to Paneau's. If it weren't for the markedly different dome-shaped buildings that lined the horizon in the distance, I would have thought I was on Paneau, not its neighbor.

Still silent, Horatio landed the hauler in a brief clearing, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Under the brush cover, however, I saw another small ship with Paneau markings nearby and three people beside it. I started to unbuckle my restraints, but Horatio stopped me when I stood and stepped toward the rear hatch.

"Here," he said simply, "you might want this."

Without turning to me, he held up my lightsaber in his hand. Though relieved, I was initially angry. Why had he waited so long to return it to me? But considering his position, not knowing me well and having to suffer my irritation at my situation...I wouldn't have given it back to me, either. He didn't have to retrieve it. In fact, I'm sure it hadn't been easy to.

I took it slowly and clipped it to my belt, but Horatio still didn't look at me. I still had so many unanswered questions, so many things I wanted to tell him, but all I could manage was a bland thank you. He nodded in acknowledgment, still with his back to me, and as the rear ramp descended, I left quietly.

Stepping out into the cold rain, I felt my heart skip a beat as I heard the sudden eruption of turbolaser fire in the skies above me. I couldn't see any of the fighters through the clouds, but I could hear the roar of their engines as they soared overhead. I was already halfway between the hauler I had just left and the Paneau craft when the sky lit up briefly in a spectacular flash, followed by a horrendously loud explosion. The fighting was well under way.

I had to dodge falling debris as I sprinted toward the Paneau ship, but expecting to see someone I knew, I was relieved to encounter three unfamiliar faces in Paneau Royal Navy officer uniforms.

"Take me to Paneau, _now_."

Only one shook his head. "Sorry, m'lady but we --"

"Let me guess," I cut in angrily, "you've been ordered to keep me here." Again with the _m'lady_...

"King Verojec's orders," he said calmly as he nodded. I had started to continue, but his response caught me off guard. This was Jec's doing? And all along I had assumed Koril was behind these efforts to keep me "safe". Regardless, I was still frustrated.

"I need to speak with your Head of Security. I'm going to Paneau, and if you won't take me, I'll find someone else who will."

A familiar voice spoke from inside the small craft beside us. "You're not going anywhere."

I felt my breath freeze in my chest as I saw both Koril Rys'tihn and Jec Banarecc step down the ship's ramp. Jec's four personal guards were close in tow, but my eyes only followed Koril as he, too, gazed at me, and it was several seconds before I found my voice to speak again.

"Koril, I know what they're after. They're here for the --"

"Diamond," he interrupted. "I know." With a quick glance and a nod at his officers, they returned to the small ship with Jec and his Scepter Guard. I was confused. Why was Paneau's new king here on Salastryn, and why was Koril with him? Wasn't it extremely dangerous for the two to be together at such a volatile time?

Koril looked tired and worn, though I didn't need to ask why. Even as we stood in the rain, he didn't so much as blink. His eyes were hard, completely void of the care and gentleness I had fallen in love with. The longer I looked at him, the more guilt continued to weigh on me, and finally, I had to look away. It was too painful.

"They've been in the neighboring system for two weeks," he continued expressionlessly, "waiting to strike when the Diamond would be in transit. I sold it after you left."

When most people feel extreme emotions, they turn red. My temperature, however, goes the opposite direction. I was beginning to feel the rain freezing to my skin.

"The buyer left with it yesterday, but they don't know that."

I didn't understand. "Koril, they're going to attack the Manor and the Retreat, if not more." He didn't move, let alone respond. "...are you just going to let them?"

Still, silence. I was nearly speechless, myself. I hardly had the strength to speak.

"Look, I know I hurt you, and I know you're upset... But your pilots are up there giving their lives to defend your planet." Rain frozen to my cheek melted as a tear rolled over it. "I don't need more people to die for my mistakes."

Though it wasn't much, I was glad to at least see his eyes soften the slightest bit, but it didn't last long. Another loud explosion lit up the sky like lightning, though this time much closer to the ground, and to us. A cloud overhead began dumping sizable debris as well as heavier rain on us through the trees, but within seconds, it began to glow bright orange, becoming brighter as Koril and I watched. I almost realized too late what was about to happen: the fighter that had just been destroyed was freefalling to the ground...and we were directly under it.


	6. Chapter 6

This time, it was _my_ turn to protect everyone.

"Raise the ramp!!" I yelled into the ship. As it began to ascend, I used the Force to shove Koril just enough to make him stumble backward onto it. Thankfully it sealed before he could regain his footing and come back out, though I heard his protests well, even through the closed ramp.

Only a few more seconds and I knew the wreckage would be almost on top of us. I had a mere instant to make my decision, but I knew what I had to do.

The fiery fuselage finally pierced through the clouds just as I took my stance in the clearing, mere meters from its landing point. With all the power I could muster in the Force, I created an invisible wall in front of me and the Paneau ship. Though I knew I wasn't strong enough to deflect the entire impact, I at least could lessen it and provide enough cover to weaken the incoming blast. It was the only way any of us were going to survive. One hand stretched to the sky, eyes closed in concentration...

A split second before the impact, I heard the roar of engines straining in a sudden take-off. My eyes shot open as I realized it was in front of me on the other side of the clearing: Horatio was trying to escape the blast.

But it was too late; I couldn't do anything for him.

The impact was deafening, as well as blinding. As the wreckage landed, it created an initial turbulent shockwave that I struggled to combat. I slid backward on my feet as my wall absorbed some of the blast, but the second explosion half a second later was even more powerful, and I was no match.

I must have been blown backward. Without any of my senses, the only thing I registered was a sharp pain deep in my chest. After a few moments, my hearing began to return, and I finally realized that my chest ached because I was gasping; I wasn't able to breathe.

I heard Koril's voice calling for me repeatedly, but it sounded as if he were far off in the distance. I must have been successful in protecting them from the blast, then, if he was okay. I suddenly felt a heavy weight finally being lifted off my chest, but I still couldn't breathe. It was like my muscles had somehow been paralyzed and refused to draw in air. Dazed from the blast, I couldn't even focus enough to order my body to function...

Though blurry, my eyes eventually recovered and I saw Koril's scratched, dirty face hovering over mine. Rain, dirt, and blood dripped off him onto me, but thankful to be alive, I ignored it. Koril had one hand at the base of my neck, gently holding my head as he frantically commanded me to breathe. I was trying, I was _trying_. He looked terrified...

_Finally_ I was able to draw in a long, painful gasp, coughing as I felt my entire body shiver, though I wasn't cold. Immensely relieved as I continued to cough, Koril closed his eyes and lowered his head, looking back up at me with a pained expression. His eyes, though, were the most telling; emotionless earlier, now full of conflicted concern. As my breathing settled into a more regular rhythm, he turned his head to bark an order at his officers.

"Bacta, _now_."

Though I couldn't see them, they complied with an immediate "yessir," and I heard several footsteps sprinting away from me, splashing in the mud. How far had I been blasted?

"Where are you hurt?" Koril asked worriedly. I had to think for a moment. My main concern had been to keep breathing, but shock was beginning to set in. I couldn't tell him much.

"My head...my arm..." When his gaze lingered on my arm, I knew something was wrong. I started to raise my head to look, but he immediately protested, gently pressing my shoulders back down into the muck.

One of the officers returned, kneeling beside Koril as he handed over a small container of bacta and some bandage cloths. The rain had almost stopped, and after a moment I realized that the turbolaser fire had, as well.

"Sir, Eclipse Squadron is reporting that the Huxnel fighters have retreated to the Star Destroyer and it's preparing to leave the system. Salastryn's Libera Squadron awaits orders."

Koril nodded to his officer as he poured bacta on my arm and pressed the bandages over it. I still didn't feel anything, though. We locked gazes for a brief moment, and as he slowly stood from me, I finally started to feel my injuries. I could only listen as he stepped away from me and two other officers took his place, tending to me.

"Have the Eclipse Squadron maintain a tight net around Paneau; same goes for the Liberas around Salastryn. I don't want any stray fighters finding their way onto the surface of either planet. Instruct Admiral Sokol to deploy our Edgepoints in pursuit of the Destroyer. Send the Concordes home with our gratitude, and tell Joshua Redgrave to land his Rallyes in Dalon."

As the sound of his voice was engulfed by the sudden roar of engines, I painfully turned my head and watched as three small Paneau transports landed in the clearing nearby. Without even looking back, Koril boarded one, still giving orders to his officer. Jec was being quickly ushered into another by his Scepter Guard, though he tried to give me a reassuring smile before he disappeared into it. The two craft quickly lifted off and went in separate directions as a horde of starfighters, Paneau and Salastryni alike, flew alongside them.

I stared at the bright gray sky as the ships vanished. I hadn't said more than four words to Koril, and he had already left. There was _so_ much I needed to say...but how? I at least knew that he still cared about me; I'd never seen him so scared before. But the conflict I saw in his eyes worried me. Was it regret I saw? Did he regret allowing me to see him so concerned for me?

Back on the surface, I heard the sound of metal sliding over metal and saw the last remaining ship's ramp descend. Before I saw who had stepped out of it, I began to wave the officers' hands off me as I sat up and eventually stood. I had to steady myself by gripping one of the officer's arms as every muscle in my body protested and threw off my balance, but I was at least staying conscious.

The officer I was holding onto looked nervous. "M'lady, you should take it easy. Your injuries..."

Though I'm sure my expression outwardly changed little, I tried to give him an exasperated look. "I...am _not_...royalty..."

"But you're near enough."

Mand. I looked up in time to see her grab hold of my injured arm and pull it around her shoulders, supporting me around my waist. If she hadn't immediately used the Force to soothe the sudden pain she had caused me, I would've returned the favor, regardless of how happy I was to see her.

Kihara Marelleck, whom I also hadn't seen since Master Noor's funeral two weeks ago, stepped up beside Mand, looking anxious to help. I knew that we at least had begun to walk towards the ship, but I must've momentarily blacked out; next thing I knew, I was lying on my back on a thinly padded bench in what looked like the rear cabin of a smaller ship, and Mand was holding my hand tightly and looking at me intently.

"Elena?"

Despite not knowing where I was, I really only had one thing on my mind. "Koril left." Mand nodded solemnly, concerned by my response.

"Yeah, he did. He's got a lot to do." She paused a brief moment and asked her next question silently. _Are __**you**__ okay?_ Her expression intensified, and I knew what she was really asking. I nodded.

"I think so." I was no medic, nor was I an accomplished healer, but as far as I could tell, my baby was alright. Mand looked visibly relieved and lightly moved stray strands of my wet, muddy hair from my face. I must've looked like hell.

"Those officers told us what happened, what you did," she said with a slight hint of a smile as she glanced to the side. "You're crazy, you know that?"

I didn't think so. "I had to," I explained simply. At present, I didn't think I could elaborate on the specific thought process I had gone through to reach my decision, but I knew I had one. Startling Mand, I gasped slightly as I remembered something.

"Where's Horatio?"

She looked confused. "Who?"

"Horatio Sheridan, the man who...brought me here, rescued me from the Huxnel... He was trying to escape the crashing ship not too far from us, but I couldn't protect us and his hauler at the same time..." Still, Mand was clueless, so I strained to lift my head and look up toward the cockpit where the two officers were sitting at the controls. "We have to go back for him, he could've been hurt."

Only one officer looked back. "There was no other craft, m'lady, just ours."

I sat up more, much to Mand's dismay. The hauler had been small, but not that small. "What are you talking about? That's how I got there, he rescued me."

The officer looked apologetic. "After that wrecked fighter crashed in the clearing, our ship was the only one left, and it was damaged by the explosions, even with your efforts."

"Elena," Mand soothed, "relax. Maybe he did escape the blast."

"Or maybe his hauler crashed elsewhere after takeoff, and he could be dead or dying," I countered bitterly, surprising myself. Mand looked taken aback, too, so I closed my eyes and sighed, laying back down in defeat. I'm not sure if I necessarily owed the man my life, but I at least owed him the courtesy of making sure he had survived. What was so hard to understand about that?

Mand at least looked somewhat sympathetic. "We're almost to Dalon now. We can send someone to look for him after we land."

Though far from satisfied, I nodded and sighed. I figured I had a decent two-hour appointment with a bacta tank awaiting me in the capital city. As I watched our descent onto Paneau out the viewport, I couldn't decide which smell I loathed more: total-body bacta, or muddy, muck-soaked Jedi robes. At least mud could be washed away by a nice hot shower.


	7. Chapter 7

I had to blink my eyes a few times before they focused, but in the scant morning light, I met Koril's luminous brown gaze, his face lying merely inches from mine. He smiled sleepily, simply watching me.

_"You're even more beautiful when you sleep, did you know that?"_

_I smiled as I stretched a little, and I was about to call him a liar when I realized the window behind him was glowing a bright yellow, indicating the late hour of the morning._

_Alarmed, I shot straight up, gasping. "The supplies!"_

_Koril instantly tugged at my shoulder, trying to pull me back down onto the bed. "Relax, Elena. There aren't any new shipments coming in until tomorrow." _

_I let out an exasperated sigh, frustrated as my heart threatened to beat out of my chest from the sudden panic. I fell back onto my pillow, willing my pulse to calm. Koril gently stroked my cheek with the back of his hand, which helped._

_"It's about time you got a break, anyway."_

_I laughed. "Right, a break. What's that again?"_

_The two of us had spent the past two weeks helping Paneau make some initial strides towards normality. I had spent a large portion of my waking hours organizing the medical supplies and other aid Salastryn had sent, making sure they were distributed among the busy medical centers across the planet appropriately and efficiently. Koril had shuttled the newly elected Governors to their temporary offices in the capital city. We only saw each other for an hour at most, and I usually was the last to crawl into bed beside him. I felt like I needed to be with him as much as possible, even if it was only a few quiet, tender moments before falling asleep..._

_"You know," Koril said with a grin, bringing me back to the present, "a whole day to do nothing? Well, at least nothing work-related." He paused as his grin faded, replaced by a lax, contented expression. "It's just you and me today." _

_I smiled and rolled onto my side to face him, our noses nearly touching. "You know how well I handle 'doing nothing'."_

_"I do, which is why I've got our whole day planned, right down to the color of napkins on our dinner table."_

_I rolled my eyes playfully; I had an idea what he was up to. "So aside from an extremely expensive, fancy dinner...what else are we doing?"_

_Koril's eyes sparkled briefly. "Swimming."_

Startled as if coming out of a nightmare, I felt my entire body twitch briefly, though my arms were immobilized out beside me. It took me a moment to register my surroundings. I was suspended in bacta, presumably, and thanks to goggles attached to my breathing mask, I could make out one distorted figure in front of me, anxiously watching from outside of the tank. 

Mand's voice inside my head was comforting in my disorientation. Take it easy, Elena, the treatment's almost done. 

I nodded, though I really wasn't sure why I had suddenly emerged from my trance as I had. And why had the memory of that particular day surfaced in my mind? 

Guilt must be driving my subconscious. That was one of the best days I had spent with Koril in our year-long relationship. We swam in the beautiful Lake Lexcen for hours that morning, relaxed in the Rys'tihn Retreat in the afternoon, then returned to Dalon for dinner in the Blue Dome District, an extremely affluent neighborhood on the opposite end of the city. The district got its name from its distinctive blue domed buildings, reminiscent of the architecture of Paneau's neighbor Salastryn, and it rivaled the Palace District in opulence. Koril felt at home there, and even though I had worn a formal dress all of five times in my life, I was comfortable, too, if only because he was. It was a wonderful feeling; I was the only person in the galaxy to him. I was being treated like royalty...and though I didn't know it at the time, I was close to becoming a royal. 

...at least, I would have been if I hadn't left him. 

I heard a few splashes, and I felt the weight of my body tugging against the harness that suspended me in the tank as it lifted me out of the bacta. I noticed that my shoulder no longer ached from the blaster burn, and it was a good thing, too; I might have ripped the harness off its hinges with my good arm were I still in pain. 

"They think that'll be the last one," Mand said softly as she met me with a thick, white bath robe. Even though the bacta itself was warmed and the room wasn't cold, I was shaking. Mand released the harness as my bare feet touched the floor, and as bacta continued to drip off me, she wrapped the robe around me tightly. I had to work one hand free to pry the breathing mask and goggles off my face, making Mand grin.

"Sorry, I thought maybe you wanted to hide a little while longer."

I wasn't in the mood for jokes, though. "Right now, all I care about is showering." I wasn't quite myself after being jarred from my trance, so when Mand's expression fell at my sour response, I felt even worse.

Like any good friend, though, Mand wordlessly took me to a refresher with a shower where I could at least rinse the excess bacta out of my hair. She left a set of spare clothes, a simple gray shirt and pants, on the counter for me, and after donning them and rebraiding my damp hair, I returned to my room I had been in since yesterday. 

Expectedly, it was empty when I got there, so I climbed back into the bed, still out of my element. I had at least stopped shivering, but I couldn't shake this strange feeling. I couldn't even identify it, either. I was angry at myself for what I had done to Mand, who had only been by my side every minute since arriving at the med center, and I was even more disgusted with what I had done to Koril. And what of Horatio? Mand had told me earlier that the first scouts sent to the wreckage site couldn't find any traces of a Huxnel craft, other than the fighter that had been shot down over us. I had failed him, too, and it was all making me sick to my stomach. Had I been this difficult to deal with all day?

Another wave of nausea reminded me that it wasn't just my guilty conscience at fault. It must have been hours since I had last eaten, and I was quickly discovering how easily that influenced how sick I felt. Apparently I was approaching the 'morning sickness' stage of my pregnancy; I almost thought I was going to be lucky enough to avoid it. I closed my eyes to keep the room from spinning, but I really needed to find something to eat, and fast...

I heard the door to my room slide open, and I sensed Mand's presence step inside. At least she was quiet about it. "Elena?"

"I'm awake," I managed to mumble.

"Good," she said softly as I heard her sit in the chair beside me, "because I brought you some fresh fruit and tea." 

I opened my eyes halfway and saw Mand, her head inclined to me, sporting a sympathetic gaze and holding a tray of my favorite Paneau fruit. I smiled as best I could, and after a few moments, I sat up slowly, tugging a light sheet over myself. Mand set the tray down on my lap, but before I could grab a piece of the bright blue, juicy ganta fruit, Mand shoved the cup of steaming tea into my hand first.

"Drink," she ordered simply. I gave her a weird look; I was hungry, not thirsty. Thankful for her timely service, though, I obeyed, sipping the yellow-green drink. Though it was bitter at first, it had a smooth, sweet aftertaste, and nearly immediately, I felt better. I took another bigger sip, and my sickness was almost completely gone. Beside me, Mand smiled contentedly.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

"What is this?" I managed between increasingly larger gulps. I hardly cared that it was burning my tongue a little. 

Mand's smile faltered the tiniest bit. "Tascit made it for me when I had a hard time with my nausea. She showed me how to make it." Though I know she was trying to hide it, I could feel some of her pain surfacing. I put a hand on her arm, half reaching out to comfort her, but also seeking comfort in return. Neither of us would've survived the Imperial Invasion without Tascit, and even though it had been months, the loss was still difficult to talk about. 

"Thank you," I finally said genuinely, finishing the last sip. "I feel so much better." I set the empty cup down and grabbed the biggest ganta fruit of the three on the tray, laying back against my semi-upright bed. Mand smiled at seeing my appetite back, but as I continued to eat, her smile faded, as though something else was on her mind. 

I swallowed the last bite of the second ganta fruit. "What is it?"

Hesitant, she held my gaze for a long, silent moment before she answered. "Koril's been wanting to see you."


	8. Chapter 8

I froze mid-bite.

"Are you feeling up to it?" 

I meant to nod immediately, but Mand continued to watch me intently, waiting. Had I not responded?

I finally managed to, nodding as I swallowed a half-chewed bite. I needed to see him, too. I had one thing I knew I needed to say, but would I be strong enough to say it?

Mand set the empty tray aside and stood, walking over to the door slowly, as if giving me time to change my mind. I said nothing, and when she reached the door, she looked back with a concerned, sad expression. She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing, though I had an idea what was going through her head. I expected her to give me advice, tell me to patch things up with Koril, but really, that wasn't my decision to make. All I could do was apologize, and that's what I planned to do. 

Releasing a long breath, Mand finally stepped out of my room, leaving the door open as she left.

I felt ice running through my veins, which confused me. I desperately wanted to talk to him, but I was freezing up. Would I be able to speak when he arrived?

The seconds passed like agonizing eternities, but finally I heard slow steps outside my door. Some soft whispers filtered in, but I couldn't make out any words thanks to the deafening thud of my own heartbeat in my ears. I couldn't even tell whose voices they were; I had to close my eyes and draw on the Force to calm my nerves. 

When I opened them, my room was still empty, but a shadow crept through the open doorway. Dressed in his finest uniform, a deep purple suit with a wide golden stripe across his chest, Koril stepped inside silently. He met my gaze immediately and held it as he approached my bed and sat in the chair beside me. I had to remind myself to breathe.

With his head lowered slightly, he rested his forearms on his thighs and folded his hands between his knees. His expression wasn't...blank, but it wasn't readable, either. He looked contemplative, as if deciding on what to begin with, but I already knew what I was going to say. I opened my mouth to start...

But no sound came out. I had frozen. Mere weeks ago I had so easily rejected and wounded the man I loved, yet trying to apologize, trying to correct my wrongdoing, I couldn't even find the strength to speak. In my mind I was screaming, but still I could say nothing, and Koril spoke instead.

"Thank you," he said quietly, "for what you did, protecting us and our ship." My body went numb.

He looked up and met my gaze again, only this time, his eyes reflected the same fear I had seen in them as he leaned over me and begged me to breathe after the explosions yesterday. "It was extremely dangerous..." Though he lowered his gaze and his voice, I could tell that he was shaking the slightest bit as he continued. "I've never been so terrified in my life."

After all he had been through...the loss of his entire family to various disasters, the invasion of his home planet, his grievous injuries at the hands of bounty hunters...all that mattered less to him than my health? I was nearly choking, desperately trying to force my voice to work...

"Elena, I --"

"I'm sorry."

Surprised, he looked up, and afraid I would freeze up again, I continued pouring out my thoughts.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry... I was wrong to leave you, to run away. I was scared. Scared of failure, scared of being vulnerable... I thought it'd be too hard, too trying for us to be together but be separated. I thought you needed to be dedicated to your job, without any distractions." I paused to breathe. "I love you...and I don't deserve it, but I ask for your forgiveness...and the chance to start over."

There, I had said it. I was at his mercy, and I was nearly breathless. He held my gaze for a long time, silent and motionless. Again, his expression was almost blank, and he stood suddenly, crossing his arms and stepping over to the window, looking out onto the twinkling cityscape turned violet by twilight. His back was to me, and though I couldn't see his face, I didn't need to; I could feel a steady barrage of emotions flowing from him.

"Paneau needed you." I had to close my eyes as I heard the pain in his voice. 

I was shaking. "I know."

"I needed you." 

I hardly heard myself. "I know." 

I heard his boots shuffle on the floor, and when I opened my eyes, he had turned around to face me with a pained expression. His eyes were enough to make me cry. 

"How am I supposed to believe you? Two weeks ago, you were completely convinced that it wouldn't work."

I drew in a long breath and released it, but it did nothing to alleviate my shaking. Tears streamed down my face as I blinked to clear my eyes.

"I was scared," and I still was, "because I had just found out...that I'm pregnant. That's why Master Noor and Mand had to protect me. I just didn't know it yet."

I had to blink my eyes clear again, just in time to see Koril lower himself into the chair beside me. The pain on his face had been completely replaced by shock as he sat motionless and silent once again. He stared at the floor until I spoke again.

"I know I should've told you, but I was afraid that..." I took a breath to finish, but Koril continued for me.

"That he'd have to become the new Ghost Heir." 

I nodded. His expression was almost...understanding, sympathetic, and even a little relieved. He ran a hand through his hair and stood, pacing a bit before he finally stepped up beside me, leaning against the bed slightly. His eyes were soft, and his voice was even softer.

"Is that really why you left?"

Again, I nodded, looking at my feet. Though I had given him numerous other reasons why I was leaving, that was in the back of my mind, the backbone behind everything else I had rationalized and convinced myself of. I was scared, and I had run away.

Koril sat on a small portion of the bed at my knees, silent for a moment before he sighed and looked up at me. "Our first child doesn't have to become the Ghost Heir." I gave him a confused look. "In fact, the new Heir doesn't even have to be ours." I still didn't understand. "Deilia's offered. She and another Heir are...very close, and she thinks she may be pregnant, too."

I was still stunned. "So...we don't have to..." 

Koril shook his head, and I felt a tremendous weight disappearing from my shoulders. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back onto my pillow behind me, and I had to just breathe for a few moments. The relief was wonderful, but I still felt guilty for having hurt Koril for this, especially since now I knew that it was resolvable. I should have talked with him about it; instead, I had been a coward and left. But no more, I decided. If he took me back, I vowed I'd never make any important decision without him again. 

I felt him pick up my hand and gently hold it in both of his, and I looked over when he began to talk.

"You want me to forgive you, and you want us to start over." 

I nodded. Though I tried to control it, I'm sure he could feel my shaking and the extreme coldness of my skin. He was focused on my hand, even as he continued.

"I can only grant you one of the two." I swallowed, though my throat was dry.

"I will forgive you," he said softly, "under one condition." With one hand still holding mine, he reached into his uniform jacket with the other, digging around a pocket for something. I held my breath.

"We don't have enough time to start over. If we can pick up where we left off," he said as he pulled the engagement ring he had given me out of his pocket, "...I'll forget any of this happened."

My tears had been silent before, but I could hardly contain my sobs. I somehow managed to nod, and he gently slipped the ring back onto my finger.

I was speechless. Though I could barely see through my tears, I saw him smile wanly as he leaned over me, brushing tears from my cheeks. 

"Don't cry," he asked softly, and as I began to comply, he leaned in further and kissed me gently. It was bittersweet. Part of me had never been happier, but the other felt unworthy of his affection. 

Though he pulled back, he carefully placed his forehead against mine, and I closed my eyes. As I continued to calm down, for what felt like an eternity we sat together like that, similar to the way we had fallen asleep together numerous nights. When my breathing finally became normal, he sat back a little and picked up my hand again, bringing it up to his mouth to kiss it. I couldn't help but smile tiredly. He had done the same the first time we had met, after finishing a mesmerizing slow dance with me. He smiled, too, though I could tell something was still nagging on his mind. His expression fell just before he spoke.

"So that's why Master Noor and Mand did what they did." I nodded.

"Force Lightning would've killed him, and I probably wouldn't even have known." 

Still holding my hand, he played with the ring on my finger. "It's tradition, then. He'll have to be named after one of them." He smiled a little, though sadly. "I like Aalon; it sounds strong." I nodded, sighing lightly.

"I was thinking about Derek, after your Jedi ancestor. We did go through quite a bit of trouble together to find him."

Koril nodded, and after thinking for a few moments, he looked back up at me, decided. 

"Derek Aalon Rys'tihn it is, then."


End file.
